Hair brooms, bass brooms, whisk brush, double banister brush, scrubbing brushes (hair and bass), feather brush, furniture brush, carpet broom and Brussels sweeper, W. 48 THE housewife's REFEKElfi brushes, crevice brush, wardrobe sweeper, Pope's head broom with jointed pole, jug brush, dusting brush, kneeling mat, housemaid's gloves, two pails (one for slops), house- maid's box, set of black-lead brushes. Hearth brush, and sweep's brush. If floors are polished there must be a floor polishing brush. To sweep and turn out Rooms. — All small, movable articles, ornaments, bric-a-brac, etc., should be gently dusted and removed from the room mry carefully^ the smaller furniture should be thoroughly dusted and removed, and the rugs taken up and shaken. Cover the piano and other pieces of furniture, the mirror, etc., which are not removable, with dust cloths. Fasten all curtains out of the way, and then the windows should be widely opened and the sweeping commenced at the farthest corner from the door, and continued in that direction, and all brushed into the dustpan and burnt at once, as, if dust is left in the pan, it will blow back into the room. After the dust is settled, take off all the dust cloths. Then take a pail of warm water and put in a little kitchen salt ; wring a soft leather out of this and wipe over the surface of the carpet, which brightens it up wonderfully. After this clean the paint, putting a few drops of Scrubb's liquid ammonia into the water, and then see to the insides of the windows ; after which the small furniture and ornaments can be brought back. There are a great many sweepers now used which are most useful for every day's sweepings, but for the weekly turn-out there is nothing like a good broom, as the sweepers do not reach the corners or sides. A corner or crevice brush should be possessed by every housemaid, as then there would be no excuse for dirty corners, either in the rooms or on the staircase. In every house there should be plenty of dusting -sheets, made of unbleached calico, unless there are plenty of old and unused sheets in the house. There ought to be one very large one to cover the bed entirely. How to lay a Carpet. — Lay down the carpet as it is folded, the way the widths are to run. It should be gradually un- folded, and when it is opened out the centre width must be perfectly straight from one end to the other, and tacks put HINTS FOR HOUSEMAIDS 49 at each end to keep it in place, and all other widths should be laid in the same way. When one of the widths is thoroughly stretched out and quite straight, it must be tacked down. When the first end has been firmly fastened down, let one side at right angles to the first nailed be tacked, and when the side and end at right angles have been tacked down, the other side and end must be tacked down according to the first. When bright steel fire-irons have become rusty, rub the rust spots well with glycerine over night, and next day bring some very fine emery paper into use, and the rust will soon disappear. In putting them away for the summer grease them with mutton fat and wrap them in old news- paper. All fine, bright-metal goods when not in use should be lightly rubbed over with glycerine or kerosene, as it keeps them bright.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Hair brooms, bass brooms, whisk brush, double banister brush, scrubbing brushes (hair and bass), feather brush, furniture brush, carpet broom and Brussels sweeper, W. THE housewife's REFEREE brushes, crevice brush, wardrobe sweeper, Pope's head broom with jointed pole, jug brush, dusting brush, kneeling mat, housemaid's gloves, two pails (one for slops), housemaid's box, set of black-lead brushes. Hearth brush, and sweep's brush. If floors are polished there must be a floor polishing brush. To sweep and turn out Rooms. — All small, movable articles, ornaments, bric-a-brac, etc., should be gently dusted and removed from the room very carefully. the smaller furniture should be thoroughly dusted and removed, and the rugs taken up and shaken. Cover the piano and other pieces of furniture, the mirror, etc., which are not removable, with dust cloths. Fasten all curtains out of the way, and then the windows should be widely opened and the sweeping commenced at the farthest corner from the door, and continued in that direction, and all brushed into the dustpan and burnt at once, as, if dust is left in the pan, it will blow back into the room. After the dust is settled, take off all the dust cloths. Then take a pail of warm water and put in a little kitchen salt ; wring a soft leather out of this and wipe over the surface of the carpet, which brightens it up wonderfully. After this clean the paint, putting a few drops of Scrubb's liquid ammonia into the water, and then see to the insides of the windows ; after which the small furniture and ornaments can be brought back. There are a great many sweepers now used which are most useful for every day's sweepings, but for the weekly turn-out there is nothing like a good broom, as the sweepers do not reach the corners or sides. A corner or crevice brush should be possessed by every housemaid, as then there would be no excuse for dirty corners, either in the rooms or on the staircase. In every house there should be plenty of dusting -sheets, made of unbleached calico, unless there are plenty of old and unused sheets in the house. There ought to be one very large one to cover the bed entirely. How to lay a Carpet. — Lay down the carpet as it is folded, the way the widths are to run. It should be gradually unfolded, and when it is opened out the centre width must be perfectly straight from one end to the other, and tacks put HINTS FOR HOUSEMAIDS at each end to keep it in place, and all other widths should be laid in the same way. When one of the widths is thoroughly stretched out and quite straight, it must be tacked down. When the first end has been firmly fastened down, let one side at right angles to the first nailed be tacked, and when the side and end at right angles have been tacked down, the other side and end must be tacked down according to the first. When bright steel fire-irons have become rusty, rub the rust spots well with glycerine over night, and next day bring some very fine emery paper into use, and the rust will soon disappear. In putting them away for the summer grease them with mutton fat and wrap them in old newspaper. All fine, bright-metal goods when not in use should be lightly rubbed over with glycerine or kerosene, as it keeps them bright.

The housewife's referee